ESata on Mac Pro

Hello,
I have a Mac Pro - I recently purchased an enclosure and 2 hard drives to store my footage from editing with FCP. The enclosure allows for an eSata connection. I know the eSata option is not standard on Mac Pro. What is the best solution to to connect this external hard drive enclosure to the mac pro. Thanks

Dear all, I am happy to see Mac users using eSATA.
Fyi, good news, there is a new eSATA + USB combo called eSATAp (power over eSATA)
http://www.esatap.sg/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/esatap-300x217.jpg
1) It is able to self power a 3.5" HDD / SSD / Blueray drive alone! in a desktop workstation environment.
2) It is backward compatible with USB 2
3) It can be easily implemented by simply using a Delock bracket & a 12V power to translate the internal SATA to eSATAp. No drivers or BIOS tweak needed!
4) Many NAS storage is expandable with eSATA
5) So get an eSATAp capable HDD (e.g. Delock http://www.delock.com)
Youtube: PqlqCoQMLsQ (eSATA is still faster than USB 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqlqCoQMLsQ

Similar Messages

MobileSTOR MS2UT + esata + USB + mac pro = never-ending problems

Hey gang,
I seemed to have entered a perfect storm here:
I had purchased the *MobileSTOR MS2UT 2 Bay SATA to eSATA/USB 2.0 RAID 0/1* Enclosure initially for a *dual 800 quicksilver G4* mac that I had, looking for a hardware-based Raid solution for back ups and to not burden the G4 processor. I have replaced the G4 with an early *2008 2.8 dual quad core mac pro*. After two machines and two different PCI sata cards, I've had no luck....
(website for the above enclosure)
http://www.sansdigital.com/mobilestor/ms2ut.html
For starters, in the G4, I had a quality Seritek/1ve2+2 controller that had no problem with two other single drive enclosures, but failed with the MS2UT.
http://www.firmtek.com/seritek/seritek-1ve2plus2/
A glib response from Seritek support says that I should use their enclosure. Digging around I find that I need a controller card that can handle a port multiplier enclosure rather than just any serial ata enclosure. Seems silly to me that the user has to dig for this. I mean the USB & FIREWIRE interfaces don't seem to care: it says USB/FIREWIRE on the effing box of both the controller and on the drive, badda-bing, badda boom: it works. Whats with this high maintenance of esata. Well you get roughly 2-3x the performance so Ok, maybe its worth it.
Well, with the macpro on the horizon,, I give up on the G4, close that unsolved mystery. For the mac pro I figure PCIe, a modern computer, no problem. I get the computer, fish around the internet for an esata PCIe card, then I come across this review of the WiebeTech SilverSATA II which appears to be similar to that of the MobileSTOR:
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/wiebetech/silver2/
It appears that the unit has specific tastes as far as having the right card to make it bootable, multiport aware, etc... (the Sonnet Tempo 4+4 card works but its a PCIx card, not PCIe)
Like I said: install a bootable Mac OS on any USB/firewire drive, plug it into any card, and it works... estata... its russian roulette...
Ok so I round up some vendors, (firmtek, sonnet, Highpoint) send them emails to see what they think: if their latest cards will work with the MS2UT... They are all over the place.. they think it may work, they dunno... it should work, they haven't tested it... then they try to push their own enclosure hardware on me. I mean see an astrologist or have your palm read.. it seems more likely you'll get a more accurate answer from them, rather than vendors... props to Sonnet, though, they list compatibility right on the page with their controller.
then 10.6 comes out... and you email vendors about compatibility on that OS, and they don't even email you back.
So I find this review of the highpoint rocket raid for the mac on the great sight: Barefeats.com
http://www.barefeats.com/hard119.html
to make a long story short:
+KEY FEATURES of the "eSATA for Mac"+
+1. Dual eSATA ports+
+2. 32 and 64-bit EFI onboard+
+3. Able to boot Mac OS X+
+4. Plug and Play for (Oxford and Silicon Image chipset) external storage+
enclosures
+5. 4x PCIe rating+
+6. Support for Direct Attached and Port Multiplied enclosures+
+7. RAID 0, 1, 5, and JBOD support using browser-based manager+
+8. Native support for Snow Leopard+
+9. Compatible with 2006 - 2009 Mac Pro+
I should be set, right? WRONG!
I email highpoint, detailing that I planned to mix both Port multiplied (PM) and direct access (DA) enclosures on the same card at the same time. They say maybe (only describing the PM enclosure, not even mentioning the DA enclosure compatibility as I specified), since its a raid card and I intended to use it with an enclosure with its own raid hardware, however they say they see no issues. Well it shows they don't even know their own hardware: Their docks say that the card supports PM enclosures as well as DA (direct access) enclosures. Their web based software even shows the two as separate categories. What is buried in the manual and not cleared up by tech support or their product page is that YOU CAN'T MIX PM AND DA ENCLOSURES ON THE CARD AT THE SAME TIME!!! I explained more in the paragraph above than any tech support from any company. Unbelievable where support has gone these days.
I discover the above because I found the card at Fry's believe it not and since they have a generous return policy I tried it out and learned the above the hard way. No dice on the MS2UT with what is perhaps the most forgiving esata card for the mac.
So more hunting on the web, this time the enclosure's manufacture site: sans digital.
http://www.sansdigital.com/mobilestor/ms2ut.html
...clicking on the accessories tab I find several esata adapter cards... funny that they include ones that don't appear to support PM enclosures... Anyway, I study two that state they supports port multipliers:
http://www.sansdigital.com/adapters/ha-san-4espcix2.html:
http://www.sansdigital.com/adapters/ha-dat-4espcie.html
Ok, I may not get a bootable enclosure.. I just want to get this thing working in esata since cloning my internal raid on the mac pro takes 8 hours using usb, and my main purpose is to maintain a clone so I make my compromise.
I should be set, right? WRONG!
reading the fine print on both cards it says:
*(Please note that the host adapter card is based on Silicon Image chipset, which currently only support up to MAC OS 10.5.1 by Silicon Image.)*
I do more research, it seems any manufacturer using chips by Silicon Image will have an issue with 10.6 macs! On some websites it says Silicon Image will never release a driver. On firmtek it says they make their own driver and swears that it works. At the Silicon Image website they say they are an OEM provider so don't bother them, and that its up to the vendor to make a compatible driver. Sheesh!!
I don't get it.. whats the point in having an esata sticker if it appears to come in more flavors than an ice cream shop!
Oh and it gets better: I go to the sonnet site, thinking they have to have something that works, looking at their latest tempo SATA E4P:
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/temposatae4p.html
well, the fine print is EXHAUSTIVE, but again props to Sonnet for making it crystal clear:
(4) Sonnet Tempo cards are compatible with most external SATA storage. However, external hard drives with USB 2.0/eSATA dual interface based on the Oxford Semiconductor OXU931DS storage controller chip may not be compatible with Mac OS X when connected via SATA. Known issues are kernel panics occurring when the drive is connected, or the drive not being recognized by the operating system.
+Summary of external SATA storage+
+• Storage with eSATA alone +
Compatible
+• Storage with triple interfaces +
Compatible
+• Storage with eSATA plus Firewire 400 and/or 800 +
Compatible
+• Storage with port multiplier support (multiple drives) +
Compatible
+• Storage with RAID 0, 1, or 5 (multiple drives) +
Compatible
+• Storage with eSATA plus USB (based on JMicron 20366) +
Compatible
+ these compatible drives include, but are not limited to:+
+- OWC Mercury On-the-Go USB 2.0/eSATA 2.5" portable+
+• Storage with eSATA plus USB (based on Oxford OXU931DS) +
+not compatible+
+ these incompatible drives include, but are not limited to:+
+- Western Digital My Book™ Premium ES Edition™+
+- Seagate Technology FreeAgent™ Pro+
+Advanced users note that this card is not yet compatible in full 64-bit boot. Snow Leopard default boots in 32-bit mode, except in an Xserve.+
So in short: if you have an enclosure that has both USB and esata, but does not use the JMicron 20366, then it will not be recognized by the card. If you have an enclosure with three interfaes: USB, FW and esata, you're fine. Keep in mind too: most manufacturers don't put the source manufacturer of their chipsets on the box. So I ask..
*HOW IS THE CONSUMER SUPPOSED TO KNOW!*
I swear, a perfect analogy is if I go to best buy, buy a toshiba DVD player only to discover it doesn't play DVD's that contain movies produced by Sony Pictures..because its not a a Sony/columbia House movie. You think consumers would put up with that crap? UNBELIEVABLE...
So now I have this really versatile enclosure that apparently can't run on Mac 10.6 with ANY esata controller for the mac. I really like the design of the enclosure, with its hardware based raid that is hot swappable and has a small footprint. However there seems to be no way to get a controller card for this device that will work on a 10.6 mac.
I guess whats inferred is that you should get an enclosure with the fewest variety of ports, i.e. esata/fw/usb... ironically if it has all three, you are ok, but not if it has usb/esata. Being that USB is the most popular, thats not easy. I'm looking to contact Sans Digital to see if they will exchange it for me, possible for a model with esata/fw800 or an esata only model, if it exists. My last resort is to just use it as a USB drive (my intention was to use it as a clone of my system, with the added security that the enclosure makes a copy of a copy in raid 1), however its like 3x as time consuming than esata.
If anyone has a working MobileSTOR MS2UT/wiebetech SilverSATA II in a 10.5 mac pro, please respond to me with your config. Thanks for reading!

Thank you hatter for your reply.
I'm familiar with OWC, as I've done business with them since 2001, as well as XLR8.
I have a 2008 mac pro so the 2009 model related problems are not an issue in my situation
As I stated above I go to reputable vendors for my hardware who have specific mac experience. I look specifically for hardened compatibility so that there is support for things like deep sleep. The Sans Digital enclosure was over $200..it was not cheap. The USB/Esata combo is the most common interface for the enclosure storage market. Having a compatibility issue is a vendor fault, not the buyer. Having minutiae flavors of esata compatability based on chipsets roulette wheel is inexcusable. The enclosure needs that I have is for the medium to be removable and be able to be rebuilt at the hardware level, i.e. at the enclosure's control panel. To the mac its just a drive. The hotswap and back up is transparent to the OS and mac hardware, and allows me to change from raid 0/1 and do back up right from the enclosure interface.
So far I haven't had problems with USB/Firewire. Meanwhile Esata to me has been nothing but beta testing for vendors and seeing how the chipset manufacturers have gone loosey-goosey on following spec and just dump cheap chinese crap into the market with no pride.
for comparison:
USB/FW, PATA, SATA, SCSI
1) industry standard
2) native drivers
3) bootable. Period.
4) buy a controller card/raid card, plug it in, format, it works even through major OS upgrades.
5) USB/FW: Hot-swapable. Yes it really does work.
Esata:
1) Multiple standards (again, look at the Sonnet website to see the minefield one has to walk through to mate a controller card to an enclosure)
2) non native drivers. Buying an esata card is like marrying into the vendors family. Plus if you manage to get things working and do an OS upgrade, you are playing russian roulette. If you system boots off it, then get life insurance because you may kill yourself.
3)Not bootable and no one seems to care to explain why. Whats odd is that some earlier PCIx cards were bootable (like sonnet Temp 4x4) but their PCIe successors aren't. Not sure if this has to do with the host computer BIOS and/or the current chipsets from SI which rely on custom drivers from the vendors. Another lovely example of this are the ODD_SATA ports on the Mac pro: storage only, not bootable. Sure it makes sense now that I've learned it the hard way, however to users of FW/USB and even IDE, one would think that motherboard ports are bootable. Yes I know this is a mac bios thing and its not even considered as part of the feature set of the computer
4) As I've shown, each controller card seems to be unique, even if its from the same vendor. Even the drivers vary from card to card! Heck even the vendors are unsure as to how compatible their controller cards are with various enclosures. That is proprietary, not industry standard. OS upgrades doesn't seem to provide native driver support for Direct access and/or port multiplying interfaces. The problem with this is that film/video users like myself like to build bullet proof systems, and with raids that I've built from IDE, FW, or USB, I've never had the minutiae of compatibility issues as I've had with esata. I installed an Acard raid controller in my dual 800 back in 2001, installed the drives and forgot about it. it just worked through multiple OS upgrades. Not sure whats gong on with esata.
5) Can't call it hot swappable if I can't get the **** thing to wok in the first place.
My analysis is this: Esata is basically a proprietary format to the vendor that sells the hardware, while USB/FW is an industry standard. I bought a quality enclosure that said "esata", I bought a quality controller that said "esata", it didn't work. I had to learn the hard way about DA and PM enclosures and now about chipset conflicts. I've built computers since the late 80's amiga days, hot-rodding that computer well beyond spec and with custom cooling. SCSI terminators and IDE master/slave issues were easy-cheesey because they followed straightforward rules. This esata stuff is just plain sloppy work on the part of vendors and as Danny Glover said I'm getting to old for this **** as far as being a beta tester for hardware.

I own a MAC Pro 3,1 (early 2008) and am running Mavericks 10.9.3 with no problems. I would like to add an I/O card to add USB 3 functionality or ESATA functionality but am unable to find a compatible card. As such my question...can I do this and if so wha

I own a MAC Pro 3,1 (early 2008) and am running Mavericks 10.9.3 with no problems. I would like to add an I/O card to add USB 3 functionality or ESATA functionality but am unable to find a compatible card. As such my question...can I do this and if so what is the best card?
Thank you

Have you looked at the previous discussions listed on the right side of this page under the heading "More Like This"?
Also see:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6282459?tstart=0

Mac Pro RAID and Boot Camp and eSATA controller Card

Hello all,
I have carefully read the topics concerning the Apple RAID card and its inability to run Boot Camp. Of course, I read this after placing my order. I have been mulling over my alternatives based on everyone's input. Here is what I want to do and how I think I can get there:
My system, when it finally arrives and is assembled will be:
Mac Pro 3.2GHz
12MG RAM
4 x 1TB hard drives
Apple RAID Card
ATI 2600
Except for the RAID card, the memory and drives are third party.
My plan was to create a RAID 5 with 3 of the internal drives, with the OS and apps on the non-RAIDed drive. I wanted to install Windows in a Boot Camp partition, but since learned this is not possible with the Apple card. I also planned on using the OWC Mercury Elite RAIDs I have (each enclosure house 2 x 500GB drives, and I have 4 enclosures for a possible max of 4TB of back up) to handle Time Machine (or other BU strategy) for the internals.
I have not received the Mac yet, so cannot look inside. From what I can gather, the Graphics card will occupy the Slot 1. The Raid Card will occupy Slot 4. This leaves me with only one 4x slot for a 4 port eSATA controller card (such as the RocketRAID 2314)
As I see it, I have a couple of obstacles to overcome, and I would appreciate advice/feedback on my possible solutions.
Problem 1: In order to use my existing OWC RAID enclosures, I need TWO controller cards, each with 4 eSATA connectors. Unless I scrap the 500GB drives for 1TB drives, I am stuck. Am I correct in assuming I cannot use Slot 2 for another controller card? Is there any work around?
Problem 2: Boot Camp. Can I purchase the Newer Technology extender cable to access the two eSATA ports on the Mac's motherboard to attach an external SATA drive for this purpose?
Questions:
1) I assume I can set up an external RAID (another RAID 5?) with my OWC drives and use Time Machine to back up to them?
2) From the illustration in the Mac Pro manual I downloaded, there appear to be only 4 PCIe slots, but 5 openings (one seems to be aligned with the back-up battery). I assume this is the double-wide space for the graphics card. Can I use the extra opening for the Newer Tech ports since there is no card taking up space?
3) Should I remove the Apple RAID card (resell on ebay) and buy the CalDigit RAID Card? It has the virture of allowing a Boot Camp install AND has ports that I can buy SAS to eSATA cables for, allowing me to use all of my OWC drives.
The CalDigit Card sounds good, but I would like to make the Apple card work if I can. Also, with the OPTIONAL battery back-up, the CalDigit card isn't that much less than the Apple card. Besides, I cannot find this card anywhere, everyone's at NAB, and it's Passover next week. AND I need to get this system up and running ASAP so I can begin making the money to pay for it.
Any input would be most welcome.
Gary

Problem 1: In order to use my existing OWC RAID enclosures, I need TWO controller cards, each with 4 eSATA connectors. Unless I scrap the 500GB drives for 1TB drives, I am stuck.
You could get new enclosures with SATA port multipliers for up to five drives per SATA port.
Am I correct in assuming I cannot use Slot 2 for another controller card? Is there any work around?
Apple says any PCI-e card should work in slot 2
<http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Hardware/Conceptual/HWtechPCI/Articles/pciimplementation.html#>
"Mac Pro detects whether an inserted card is PCIe 2.0 (5.0 GHz) or PCIe (2.5 GHz) and selects the operation depending on the card's maximum capability."
but there have been reports of trouble (maybe caused by the recent firmware update). Check with the card maker to be sure.
Problem 2: Boot Camp. Can I purchase the Newer Technology extender cable to access the two eSATA ports on the Mac's motherboard to attach an external SATA drive for this purpose?
No. Those ports are only usable from OSX, but if you only have one optical drive, you can mount another drive in the lower optical drive bay with a Pro Caddy for use with Boot Camp.
<http://www.transintl.com/store/category.cfm?Category=2704&RequestTimeOut=500>
This simplest connection is to use the optical ATA cable (with a SATA to ATA adapter for a SATA drive).
If you want to use a SATA connection, use a iPass to SATA cable from the iPass port on the Mac Pro logic board, which is normally used for the four SATA drives when there is no RAID card.
<http://www.pcconnection.com/IPA/Shop/Product/Detail.htm?sku=7252016>
Questions:
1) I assume I can set up an external RAID (another RAID 5?) with my OWC drives and use Time Machine to back up to them?
Yes
2) From the illustration in the Mac Pro manual I downloaded, there appear to be only 4 PCIe slots, but 5 openings (one seems to be aligned with the back-up battery). I assume this is the double-wide space for the graphics card. Can I use the extra opening for the Newer Tech ports since there is no card taking up space?
It looks like it should work if you route the cables just above the graphics card.
<http://www.newertech.com/Static/articles/images/macensteineSATA_5.jpg>

Full backup ( ~ 1 TB ) using external HD - speed USB vs. Firewire vs. eSATA - what are relative speeds - how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)_

    Hi All,
     I'm trying to resume regular scheduled Full backup ( ~ 1 TB ) of drives using external HD (to allow off-site redundant backup storage) .
     What are relative speeds of USB vs. Firewire vs. eSATA ?
     I suspect eSATA connection may be considerably faster … how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)?
      ( The quicker and easier backup protocol is, the more likely one is to use it to backup on a routine repetitive basis.)
Thanks

Jim Bogy wrote:
...I suspect eSATA connection may be considerably faster … how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)?
      ( The quicker and easier backup protocol is, the more likely one is to use it to backup on a routine repetitive basis.)
Adding a USB 3.0+eSATA PCIe card, which The hatter mentions, is the best solution that I've found. See http://eshop.macsales.com/item/CalDigit/FASTA6GU3/. The card is not cheap, but the USB 3.0 works flawlessly (which can't be assumed; ask me how I know) and the eSATA connection allows booting from the connected drive. Grant Bennet-Alder's point about HD speed is important to consider; in addition, the size of the individual files being backed up and where on the backup disk they're going will affect overall transfer speed. For example, using the USB 3.0 connection on that CalDigit card going to a Toshiba 3TB external, the transfer rate for a big file (say a virtual machine file) from an internal SSD boot drive was about 145 MB/sec while a bunch of little files might drop to 30 MB/sec and both rates decrease as an inner partition on the external is used. All told, a nearly 700 GB backup took under 1.5 hours. Using a HD as the source added almost an extra hour, though a WD external was used for that. Using a WD green drive plugged into this http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/FWU3ES2HDK/ with an eSATA connection took about 2.5 hours also, but that was bootable whereas the USB 3.0 connection is not.
Another point to consider is that USB 3.0 is ubiquitous on PC's now so there's lots of price competition for externals; not so much for eSATA externals.

ESata Compatibility with Mac Pro

Hi, names Bryan and im a new switcher from PC (Good Heavens) to OS X.
I have a Mac Pro at home and was wondering about the External Hard Drives.
I am about to buy 2x LaCie Big Disk Extremem+ eSata 3.0Gbits
1 for my Media and 1 for Backups.
i also see that LaCie has a PCI-E eSata Card for sale, and i was wondering if Plugging that card on my Mac Pro and Connecting the 2 LaCies would make the Mac Pro recognise them, and letting one to work for Time Machine...

So you mean i should avoid using stuff thats both USB/eSATA interfaced external Hard Disks?? wow thats abit difficult to be honest.
But im Terribly facinated by this..
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Stardom/SR66005SWBS1/
Since it allows ethernet file backup on this baby.
This way i can help my whole House back up everything...
So basically i want it like this on This Baby
Slot 1 - For Myself
Slot 2 - For Dad's Comp
Slot 3 - For Mom
Slot 4 - For My Media
Slot 5 - Back up of Slot 1, 2, 3 to prevent losing files on either slot 1,2 or 3
And i would also like someone to tell me if any eSATA card available for the Mac Pro can support for this babe.

Attaching an external eSATA drive to my Mac Pro?

Need to attach a LaCie 1TB eSATA drive to my Mac Pro for video editing with Final Cut Pro.
So can I just buy a regular PC based eSATA card to conect it to the Mac Pro. Like this one on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sitecom-CN-042-eSATA-PCI-Card/dp/B000UDUBPG/ref=sr113?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1245579334&sr=8-13
Any other known setup issues?
Kevin

Buy Mac Pro compatible. I'd start looking at Sonnet Tempo E4P
http://www.sonnettech.com
http://www.macsales.com
http://www.amug.com - click on reviews, dozens of on SATA controllers.
And please, please, skip and avoid LaCie (use it for backup) and go with native SATA enclosure. They don't even work well with even Sonnet Tempo or others like E2P. (There is a footnote on Sonnet site AND on OWC!)
Lots of threads on external SATA products.

New Mac Pro: What are You using to connect your eSATA external drives to you nMacPro?

Hi,
I have some eSATA external HDs that I would like to use with my 2013 New Mac Pro.
I was just wondering what other have been using to connect their nMPs to eSATA devices and how well it has worked. I have seen a USB3 to eSATA cable from NewEgg.... which seems like a good idea ... if it will work.
Thanks!

LaCie TB HUB has two TB ports which is good for daisy chain. Has two esata ports also. I connect a Voyager bought from OWC to one sata port and that's where my bare 2.5 and 3.5 hard drives reside when I need them. The other sta port has a Pioneer 207 blu ray drive. When I sleep my 2013 Mac Pro I turn off the power to the Voyager and the Pioneer. All work flawlessly.

External eSATA Drive to Mac Pro

Hi, Guys:
I'm trying to determine if I need a separate eSATA card to connect my external 2T Fantom Green Drive to my Mac Pro (mid-2012) of just an extender cable. Newer Technologies has an extender cable that seems to have worked with older Mac Pros, but I can't find any indication that it would work with the newer ones. The drive mfg'ers were no help. Thanks for any information.

The extender cable will work in any Mac Pro, but it uses the optical drive SATA ports. On early (before 2009) Mac Pros, both ports are free since the optical drives were PATA. Newer Mac Pros use SATA optical drives. so only one port is available for external SATA drives if you have one optical drive. If you have two optical drives there will be no ports left.
The optical SATA ports require the drive to be powered on and connected when the computer is booted.

ESATA: connecting 2 mac pro's via esata to each other

has anyone tried to connect 2 mac pro's via esata directly to each other (instead of the slower ethernet connection)? i was hoping to install esata cards into the pci-express slots into 2 mac pros and instead of the usual ethernet connection between the 2 so they can file share, i was hoping for a faster estata connection if that is possible. would i see the computers in the usual finder window under "shared?" note: the mac pro's would be physically close to each other, so cable length connection is a non issue.

Hopefully no one would try this.
NAS or FiberChannel like Apple did with XRAID.
OS X client is not designed to handle file-locking and device sharing, not in this manner.
Linux or HP type media servers

Mac Pro External eSATA Drive

I am looking for a 2TB external hard drive for my Mac Pro (Quad Core 3GHz) and have a question. The Mac Pro has a 500 GB internal boot drive and three internal 500 GB drives RAIDed into a single 1.5TB drive. I would use an external 2TB drive for backing up the 1.5TB daily with Apple's Backup and will use it for Time Machine when I install Leopard. The computer is used primarily for Final Cut Pro Studio.
Costco has a Western Digital external 2TB drive with Fire wire 800 (800mb/s) for $600 and a Western Digital external 1TB drive with eSATA (3000mb/s) for $300. Either way it's $600 for 2 TB. I would need to purchase an eSATA Extender Cable to utilize the two extra SATA ports found on the Mac Pro's logic board for $25.
*The question is*: Could I connect two of the 1TB eSATA drives with the eSATA Extender Cable and make them a single 2TB RAID with Apple's Disk Utility... and would you recommend doing that over getting the 2TB drive which is 1/4 the speed and the same price?
Please see the details below and thank you for your help. I asked the Geniuses at three different Apple Stores and got 3 different answers.
2TB - My Book Pro Edition II (Firewire 800) $600
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=341&language=en
1TB - My Book Home Edition (eSATA) $300
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=357&language=en
eSATA Extender Cable $25
http://www.newertech.com/products/esata_cable.php

I am looking for a 2TB external hard drive for my Mac Pro (Quad Core 3GHz) and have a question. The Mac Pro has a 500 GB internal boot drive and three internal 500 GB drives RAIDed into a single 1.5TB drive. I would use an external 2TB drive for backing up the 1.5TB daily with Apple's Backup and will use it for Time Machine when I install Leopard. The computer is used primarily for Final Cut Pro Studio.
Costco has a Western Digital external 2TB drive with Fire wire 800 (800mb/s) for $600 and a Western Digital external 1TB drive with eSATA (3000mb/s) for $300. Either way it's $600 for 2 TB. I would need to purchase an eSATA Extender Cable to utilize the two extra SATA ports found on the Mac Pro's logic board for $25.
*The question is*: Could I connect two of the 1TB eSATA drives with the eSATA Extender Cable and make them a single 2TB RAID with Apple's Disk Utility... and would you recommend doing that over getting the 2TB drive which is 1/4 the speed and the same price?
Please see the details below and thank you for your help. I asked the Geniuses at three different Apple Stores and got 3 different answers.
2TB - My Book Pro Edition II (Firewire 800) $600
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=341&language=en
1TB - My Book Home Edition (eSATA) $300
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=357&language=en
eSATA Extender Cable $25
http://www.newertech.com/products/esata_cable.php

New Mac Pro: Will I need to toss out my esata RAID systems?

Can't wait to buy the new MacPro. However, I have 3 RAID systems, hooked up to ESATA RAID controllers. Will I be able to use these with the new mac pro? is there like a thunderbolt-estata raid converter?

There are several ThunderBolt to eSATA boxes avaiable:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Lacie/9000186/
This converts to ExpressCard34, then you add an eSATA expresscard to it:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technologies/ECHOPROE34/
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technologies/SATAIIE1PE34/
This one is not quite available, but some online resellers are taking orders:
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echo15thunderboltdock.html

Can't get Mac Pro to recognize OWC Mercury Elite Al-Pro QX2 Raid on eSata

Hi Everyone,
I have a new OWC Mercury Elite Al-Pro QX2 Raid, set up as Raid 5, w 4 x 2TB Hitachi drives. I have been able to get it to mount on my Mac Pro via FireWire connection only, can't get it to mount via eSATA.
Since the purpose is video editing, I need the eSATA connection to work.
Any ideas on how to get the Mac Pro to see the eSATA?
I've tried switching eSATA cables to one that has been verified to work, still no luck.
Thanks!

I have a new OWC Mercury Elite Al-Pro QX2 Raid, set up as Raid 5, w 4 x 2TB Hitachi drives. I have been able to get it to mount on my Mac Pro via FireWire connection only, can't get it to mount via eSATA.
Dear Sunshine22,
The QX2 uses an Oxford 936QS chip that can require up to 45 seconds to startup all of the hard disks and become ready to accept eSATA controller commands. Usually, the QX2 enclosure will beep when it is finally ready.
The amount of time required to startup the enclosure can be longer than some eSATA drivers expect. There are two possible options you might try to get around this issue.
1. Unplug the QX2 eSATA cable from the controller. Turn on the enclosure and wait 45 seconds or until the enclosure beeps indicating it is ready. Next, connect the eSATA cable and the enclosure should show up in Disk Utility within the next 20 - 30 seconds.
OR
2. Turn on the QX2 and wait for 45 seconds or until the enclosure beeps. Now restart the Mac Pro and the enclosure should mount on the desktop or show up in Disk Utility.
Perhaps one of these methods will mount the QX2 for you.
FirmTek has updated our eSATA drivers so that these work arounds are not usually necessary when an Oxford 936QS based enclosure is attached to a FirmTek PCIe controller.
Good luck!

Lacie 4Big Quadra | eSATA Card Needed for 2008 Mac Pro

I have a Mac Pro (2008) and have just bought a Lacie 4Big Quadra. I need an eSATA card to take advantage of the faster transfer rates. I'll be using the drive in RAID 1 as part of a backup solution.
Can anyone recommend an affordable eSATA card which will work without succombing to the many warnings posted here and elsewhere?
Any help would be much appreciated. :)
Kind regards, Richard

Well, you didn't define what is considered 'affordable' so here's my answer: OWC deals in reliable products that in my experience work well with Macs.

ESata card for Mac Pro (Early 2008)

I am looking for another two port eSata card for my Mac Pro (Early 2008) model. The card I ordered before Christmas from Amazon (UK) has just arrived but doesn't fit (Lacie eSATA PCI CARD)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/LaCie-130823-eSATA-PCI-Card/dp/B001O9KEKM/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&qid=1294318895&sr=8-1
It's only for two drives I use from time to time to back up my HD Video (personal family stuff only).
Any recommendations?
Many thanks, Matt

I have the Sonnet E2P in my Mac Pro Early 2008. Also available in UK from here:
http://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/productinfo.php?productsid=421
And "Yes": that arrangement is the PCI-Express card connector - that's what you need.
!http://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/images/381-img-main.jpg!
It's definitely a Mac card - Sonnet product page here has latest drivers, etc.:
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/temposatae2p.html
(Currently = v 1.2.5)
Edit: you could always use one of these:
http://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/productinfo.php?productsid=511
!http://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/images/466-img-main.jpg!
It extends the unused motherboard SATA ports to the back panel. Cheaper, but requires you to partially disassemble your Mac Pro to install it, and the drives thus attached are NOT swappable while your Mac Pro is powered on - necessitating a power-cycling of your Mac to mount/unmount drives connected to this card.
With the E2P you can mount/unmount drives without powering off your Mac. I'd go with the E2P!

ESata on Mac Pro

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